For Good
by Snows Of Yester-Year
Summary: Who can say if I have been changed for the better? Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.


A/N: The following is a result of listening to a musical on repeat for several hours, no sleep and a markedly depressed attitude.

I have always had the most inexplicable obsession for the paralells between Zuko and Aang, which is rather evident in this story. I suppose this can be interperated as Zuaang if you feel so inclined, but that's not what I had in mind when I wrote it.

This is based off of the song For Good from the musical Wicked, which is one of the most addictive things I have ever heard.

Disclaimer: My name is neither Mike nor Bryan.

* * *

Who can say if I've been changed for the better? Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

-from _Wicked_

* * *

A silent wind tousled the young mans dark hair, pushing it away from the bright blue arrow on his forehead. The sun was breaking the horizon, glittering beautifully on the water below and casting the first rays of warmth across his face. His friends were still deep in sleep in the cave, unaware of his silent meditation just outside the mouth of the cave. 

His mind had wandered until it rested on Zuko. His thoughts were thrown into utter turmoil at the memory of the boy…scarred face, malevolent frown, undying determination to capture him. To capture the Avatar, chase him, hunt him, catch him. Aang never even knew why he was so determined in his pursuit.

The young Avatar had to wonder what everything would have been like had he never met the prince. Everything, he realized, would be different.

Zuko had, in his own way, pushed him into accepting his duty. Without the prince, he may have kept his identity secret forever. Zuko didn't give him that option. He forced him to face his destiny. Without Zuko, would he have taken up the duty to save the world?

Perhaps not.

Because of Zuko, Aang didn't have the option to hide away. Because of him, he had to learn to fight, had to learn the ways of war. It was because of him that Aang became a fighter.

_How can that be?_ Aang thought. _How can it be that I am who I am…because of him?_

The more Aang thought about it, the more this seemed to be the truth, as undesirable of a truth as it was. Yes, Katara and Sokka had found him, and that had been his first step on the path he was on. But at the crossroads between facing his destiny and living in obscurity, it had been Zuko that had forced him to take this road.

Knowing Zuko had changed him, no doubt about it. And he would probably never be the same again.

At about the same time, several miles away, there was another young man watching the sun rise. The young rays burned bright in his eyes and warmed his skin as the gentlest of breezes brushed his untidy black hair as his mind wandered ceaselessly.

As they frequently did, his thoughts came to rest on the young Avatar. Where was he? Was he out there hiding, waiting for the opportunity to reappear as he had done before? Or were his fears unfounded? Perhaps the Avatar was truly dead.

What a strange boy the Avatar was…he had not fit at all into the expectation Zuko had formed for the Avatar. Instead of being a powerful master of all the elements, he was just a kid who had yet to completely master three of the four elements.

Now that the Avatar was no longer a factor in his life (assuming he was actually dead), Zuko felt as though a piece of his life was missing. For so long, everything had been about the young Avatar…and because of the Avatar, he was different.

The Avatar had inadvertently forced him into exile in the Earth Kingdom. He had made it so that Zuko had to live like a filthy refugee and scrounge like a commoner, even if it was inadvertent. This had changed him. His uncle was right; he was not the same person he was. He had grown. He was more mature, a better fighter, a better bender. Would this have happened had the Avatar not entered his life?

It was doubtful.

His pursuit of the Avatar had pushed him onto the path that would take him home. Now, because of the Avatar, he had everything he had ever wanted. His mind and bending skills were sharp, sharper than they had been a matter of months ago. This was no doubt a result of fighting and being forced to live like a commoner for months on end.

"Unbelievable," he muttered. "He made me who I am."

He shook his head slightly, brushing the thought off. Even as he did so, it returned to haunt him, this truth that he could not escape. It was because of the Avatar that he was who he was.

And thus, though miles apart, the two boys had the exact same thought:

_I don't know if I have changed for the better…but I know that I have changed for good._


End file.
